This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on upcoming retirement.
The phone rang; caller IDĀ informed me,Ā “U.S. Government.”
I answered. The lady on the other end said, “May I speak with John Kanelis?” Yes, I said. You are speaking to him.
It was the Social Security Administration and after answering some “security questions” — Mom’s maiden name, place of birth … that kind of thing — the nice lady told me my Social Security benefit has been approved.
My head is spinning.
She told me when it would start arriving. She gave me the amount. She answered a couple of questions regarding my eligibility to keep earning income outside of Social Security. I thanked her, hung up the phone and now am wondering: How many of these four part-time jobs I am working do I want to keep?
I think I’ll keep all of them … at least for the time being.
The biggest head-spinner of all is the speed with which I received the call.
I applied online for the SS benefit on Sunday. Today is Wednesday. It’s the morning of the third business day after IĀ submitted my application. I had received an e-mail from Social Security that informed me I could check after five business days on the status of my application. I reckon I don’t need to check now.
This is utterly amazing.
What in the world ever happened to the federal government that supposedly took forever to do anything on request? Furthermore, whatever happened to the cold-hearted, borderline rude federal bureaucrats with whom one dealt whenever one had an issue with the government? The individual with whom I spoke was courteous, pleasant and answered my questions with ease.
I told you the other day I was a happy fellow.
Today, I am even happier.